Entries from January 2018

The celebrations that are Christmas and New Year’s are over and we are firmly in the middle of Old Man Winter’s grasp.
While temperatures have improved in the last day or so the recent cold snap which put us in a stranglehold was enough to leave me dreaming of an afternoon at the beach or one at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, my favorite spot for relaxation and reflection (when the weather is right of course).
The winter blues have a tendency to take hold on many of us this time of year. It’s a combination of things. It’s the cold, the lack of daylight hours and the lack of seeing things alive such as the trees and grass. It’s why I always look for a pair of red birds when I put out birdseed. Their vivid colors are a shattering contrast to the dreary background.
I often ask people how they deal with winter, even in Georgia where it typically is not that bad. Some people simply say winter does not bother them.
My father reminds me that winter, and the cold it brings, is necessary for any number of reasons and I know he’s right.
My father’s father was a farmer and I know many of the reasons why winter is necessary as I used to listen to my grandfather talk about them.
However, no matter how hard I try I have a hard time dealing with it. The days when the high (in our state of all places) won’t get out of the 30s and when the low dips into the teens at night are just outright depressing to me for some reason and it has been that way for years.
For me, I try to lose myself in my interests from favorite television shows or movies or being with family or friends. Often even getting a text from someone you know can help make the day better.
It entered my mind in recent days that high school baseball is just around the corner.
While those first games are always brutal in terms of the weather, by mid-season at least the temperatures begin to warm up.
And of course, college football really doesn’t have an offseason anymore.
In a couple of months spring football practice will be here and fans like myself will begin to anticipate the 2018 season.
Winter arrives each year and its severity differs. We were lucky the previous winter and haven’t been as fortunate in this one. I just keep saying “spring will return eventually.” After all, it always has.
•••
This week’s political thumbs down has to go to attorney general Jeff Sessions and his announcement that federal prosecutors will once again crack down on marijuana use even in states where it has been legalized for everything from medical to recreational use.
It’s ironic to hear Sessions take this stance since President Trump has long said issues of this nature should left to the states.
“He (Sessions) represents something that is so Un-American,” said former Congressman and three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul. “The war on drugs is a war on liberty.”
The extremists like Sessions would dictate what drugs cancer patients could use to ease pain. This is of no business of the federal government.
Sessions, though, would likely have no problem in handcuffing a bed-ridden cancer patient for using a drug he deems “evil.”
It’s a bad precedent for Republicans who claim to be for keeping the long arm of government out of our lives. Sessions’ decision borders on the moronic.
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Winder resident Chris Bridges is a former editor of the Barrow News-Journal. He welcomes feedback about this column at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.

The excitement surrounding the football National Championship has continued another week with Georgia right in the middle of it.
When you read my column this week the game will be over and we will either be the champs or runners-up. It has been a great year being a Dawg fan. Win or lose, I’ll always be a Dawg fan. You can look at the inside and outside of my house and tell that. You can’t walk in a room in my house without seeing a Bulldawg in it. And of course, my favorite color is red and I wear it often.
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I love trying new things for breakfast especially during the holidays and then if they are good I keep using them. I’ve had several requests for breakfast casserole recipes so I’m going to share a few of them with you this week.
Pecan
French Toast
Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread, sliced
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
Directions:
Arrange bread in a lightly greased 9x13-inch baking pan; set aside. Beat together remaining ingredients; pour over bread. Cover; refrigerate overnight. Spread topping over mixture; bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Topping:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 Tbsps. maple syrup
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup chopped pecans
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together.
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Admit it. We all want it.
The magic diet that will melt away the pounds like hot butter, and buff the muscles to a six-pack.
What’s that? Butter? Six-pack?
See how quickly I get sidetracked when thinking about the magic diet? Just that one sentence alone was enough to make me gain three pounds. Believe me. If there were a magic diet out there, I’d have found it by now.
Growing up, I didn’t have to worry about weight.
My mama was a tiny little thing, and I was just barely over 100 pounds soaking wet all through my teenage years.
Everyone used to tell me, “You’ll never have to worry about your weight.” (Pssst. Don’t ever tell that to anyone. Some people are silly enough to believe it.)
I didn’t experience the “freshman 15.”
Nope, that was kid stuff. Instead, I experienced the “bridal bloatfest.” When I married at 21, I was horrified that it took a size 9 wedding gown to hold my bloated body. What had happened to my size 5 and 7 jeans? I guess being so blissfully in love was a calorie magnet, and I had ballooned up to 114 pounds. If gaining weight was the sign of bliss, by the time I gave birth five and a half years later, you’d have thought I was the owner of Disneyland (the happiest place on Earth).
Some people take up a new craft or hobby. Some people take dance lessons or learn a new language. Some people search for the answers to the mysteries of the universe. I began the quest for the magic diet. The one that would allow me to swallow a pill, or meditate, or listen to subliminal messages to give me the desire and the willpower to fit back into those jeans. Forget the 5s and 7s, I would have been ecstatic to see any size in the single digits!
My library expanded. I purchased every diet book on the market. I read them all. Some of them I tried; some of them I decided were either too dangerous, or the food choices left me gagging. There was the grapefruit and boiled egg diet. The lemonade diet. The cabbage soup diet. The Richard Simmons Method. Medibolic. Scarsdale. The banana diet. The ice cream diet. The Zone. The Mayo Clinic.
The eat-like-a-tree diet. The full plate diet.
The weigh down diet. And that’s only a few of them. Needless to say, I’ll never have to buy another door stop again.
Back in the olden days of VHS cassettes, I bought enough exercise videos to rival the Great Wall of China. And like the Great Wall, they just sat there, not doing a darn thing to take the weight off.
Today I have no less than 10 “workout” DVDs. I can Walk Away the Pounds, Dance Away the Pounds, and Hypnotize Away the Pounds. They just sit there too. Collecting dust. Hmph. And they were guaranteed to work! Wonder if I can get my money back?
My repertoire of exercise equipment isn’t too shabby either.
I have stretchy things, and springy things, and special tone-up sneakers. I have a pedometer, an MP3 player and some kick-butt ear buds. I have my very own personal treadmill. Inside my house. Plugged in.
And up until a few months ago I had a membership at the Wellness Center.
Then I figured for that monthly payment, I could buy myself a lot of groceries and fast food. You know that didn’t end well.
I guess that explains it then: I bump into things I didn’t used to bump into. Sometimes when I walk through the room, things just seem to topple over all by themselves. And then I realize it was my butt that toppled it over.
Something’s gotta give. And it ain’t gonna be my waistband.
So here we find ourselves in a brand new year, with a clean plate … err… clean slate, and once again embrace the resolve to start all over. To get it right this time. And we will do it. Because after all my extensive research, I have learned that there really is a magic diet. Four little words: eat less, move more.
Find your magic and make it work. You’re not getting any younger, and unless you already found your magic, you’re probably not getting any skinnier either.
Eat less, move more. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to make room in the closet for all those clothes that are hanging on the bars of my treadmill.
I’m ready to get my magic on.
I’ve got some moving to do!
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Cathy Watkins Bennett is a Barrow County native and a graduate of Winder-Barrow High School. Send comments about this column to
bencath@aol.com.

It is a week into the new year, and I hope that each of you have found some resolve in meeting your resolutions.
As for me, one of my resolutions is to live a more ecofriendly lifestyle. This is not something new for my family. We are familiar with the 3 R’s — reduce, reuse, and recycle — and generally we try to be eco-conscious. While some things we do fairly well, like buying most of our books second-hand, using homemade cleaning products, and eating seasonally, in other areas we could certainly improve, and one of those areas is reducing waste.
The average American creates 1,600 pounds of trash each year, which means a family of four, like mine, could generate over three tons of trash each year. Yikes!
Living in Barrow County, and seeing the looming growth of the landfill, this problem is continually in our sight, as well as our noses. Reducing waste slows the need for more landfills, reduces pollution and protects our natural resources, what’s not to like about that?
There are many ways to reduce waste in a meaningful way. Of course, the easiest was to reduce waste is by buying less stuff. Shopping second-hand, donating items no longer wanted or needed, buying products with less packaging, and going paperless for billing and magazines are all easy ways to reduce waste. Another impactful way to reduce household waste every week is by composting, which is something my family is focusing on in the upcoming year.
Compost, put simply, is managed decomposition. Kitchen scraps and yard waste can be combined in a ratio that promotes decomposition, and turns waste into rich organic matter for your garden. Compost helps soil retain moisture, adds nutrients to soil, and improves soil texture. It is glorious for improving the soil quality in your garden.
Before we moved to Barrow County, we kept chickens, and they took care of all our vegetable scraps. For the past few months however, vegetable scraps, eggs-shells, and coffee grounds have all gone in the garbage. Not so ecofriendly. To fix this, my handy husband built a compost bin for the backyard this past weekend out of pallets. We are using a traditional three-bin system, though there are several good options for creating your compost bin.
Throughout the week we will collect kitchen waste, avoiding oils, meat, and cheeses, in a sealed container in the fridge. At the end of the week, all contents will be added to our compost pile, along with leaves from our yard. Good compost requires a good mix of “greens” to “browns.”
Greens include vegetable and fruit scraps, and browns include straw and leaves. Two parts brown to one part green is a good rule of thumb for the right compost ratio. It is also helpful to add in a handful of dirt or finished compost to introduce more of the bacteria that will transform your kitchen trash into garden treasure.
The bacteria and fungi that work to break compost down need moisture. Add water when needed; a good compost pile is moist, like a sponge, but not sopping. Bacteria also need oxygen. Turning compost every couple of weeks is also important to aerate the pile, and mix components. Aim for a 3’x3’ compost pile for the best results.
While a well-managed pile can be completely composted in a matter of weeks, most compost piles take several months to fully decompose.
Composting is one way our family chooses to reduce waste and become more eco-friendly. For more information on reducing waste, check out the Extension Circular “Reduce”. For more information on composting, read the Extension Circular “Composting and Mulching”. Links to both resources are located on the Barrow County Extension Facebook page.
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Alicia Holloway is the Barrow County Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent. She can be reached by e-mail at aholloway@uga.edu, by phone at 770-307-3029, or by stopping by the County Extension Office at 90 Lanthier St. in Winder. Follow Barrow County Extension on Facebook @BarrowCountyExtension.

The first time I went to meet my wife’s parents several years back, I walked in the door and saw a dog hiding under a table staring up at me.
The long-haired Jack Russell terrier, Maggie Mae, was scared of me at first but she eventually warmed up.
And after Lauren and I got married and Maggie moved in with us, over the years she became my best friend.
Last Thursday, I had to say goodbye to my best friend, and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Cancer took her, unexpectedly and fast.
I understand we made the humane decision and instead of keeping her alive to barely hang on for maybe a few more weeks, saved her from a much more painful demise.
But that doesn’t make it any less gut-wrenching.
When you become a dog owner this is an inevitable part of it, but like many of you would probably agree, pets become a part of the family too.
Maggie was with my wife almost from the beginning. She adopted her in January 2008, a couple of years before I came into the picture, when she was only a few weeks old and small enough to hold in your hand. She was the runt of the litter but, as my wife will tell you, the cutest and most unique.
Maggie, named after a Beatles song like our son as a tribute to her favorite band, was an odd one for sure. She loved tennis balls and would chase them endlessly. More often than not, instead of bringing the ball to us in her mouth, she would dribble it like a soccer ball with her nose.
In addition to balls, she loved vegetables (particularly squash), pillows, lying on top of clothes and sleeping either on or right up against one of us.
Maggie had to have human contact at night and crowded us in the bed. If she wasn’t nestled in between my legs, she probably had her nose buried in my back. Maggie disliked just about every cat and hated squirrels and horses. If we said those words, she would squeal in disapproval. She wasn’t a fan of joggers, either, and would go right for their feet when we encountered them on our walks through the neighborhood or park.
She hated thunder, fireworks and loud noise in general. That included my antics during Georgia football games. While I anxiously paced back and forth around the living room, hid behind couches and kicked chairs, if she wasn’t hiding under the bed, she was looking at me like I was an idiot. For her sake, I watched last week’s Rose Bowl away from home.
Maggie, perhaps because she was the little one, was just a nervous dog, in general. She guarded over our son when he was a baby but was a little less sure at times as he grew into a rambunctious toddler. She was never fully comfortable around other dogs she didn’t know well and didn’t like them getting in her face.
But like any other Jack Russell, she remained fiercely loyal to her people. She was our special, crazy-haired, energetic bundle of joy.
In recent weeks, while still fleet-footed, she became less energetic, something we mostly chalked up to being 10 years old.
But one night I scratched her behind her ears and around her neck, which she always loved, and she screamed. It didn’t seem right. I felt around and noticed a large lump.
We took her to her regular vet on Dec. 14, and, perhaps in a bit of a rush on a crowded day where Maggie was a walk-in appointment, the vet found nothing wrong. She believed it was Maggie’s vertebra and that maybe I had just caught her off guard when I went to scratch her.
She seemed confident enough, not recommending any additional tests, that I shrugged it off. But Maggie didn’t improve. The next week, she yelped again when we touched her around the lump.
Two days before Christmas, a visit to another vet for a second opinion confirmed our worst fears. Maggie was diagnosed with cancer and given only a few weeks at most to live. Specifically, she had a spindle cell tumor. From what I’ve researched, most of those turn out to be benign and are at least treatable, even though many usually require amputation. But in Maggie’s case, the tumor was malignant and growing from her neck. We understood all we could do was keep her comfortable until her quality of life went so far downhill that we would have to put her to sleep.
It felt like a grave death sentence, but those next 11 days gave us a chance to really think about all the wonderful times we had with her and to shower her with extra love and affection.
Maggie felt rough, but for a few days was still well enough to run after the ball until she couldn’t hold her neck the right way anymore. Pain medication and steroids kept her eating and drinking for a little while until she gradually showed no interest.
Last week, we set up Maggie’s final trip to the vet for last Thursday afternoon. We took off work to be with her all day. Like the night before, she slept for a little while on my chest. When the time came to take her, we were devastated.
Dying is a part of life, but none of this really seems fair. We could have had more years with her. It’s infuriating that for all the wonderful advancements our society has made in medicine and technology, we still don’t have the cure for cancer.
Our son is (probably thankfully) not old enough to understand all of this, but my wife and I feel like a big part of our life is missing.
My father and stepmother foster dogs. They have a few of their own; others they prepare for a comfortable life elsewhere, others they just give a warm, loving home to live out their final days. It takes a special person to be able to do that and I deeply admire them for it. I don’t think I’d be able to do it. It’s too easy to become attached.
But they understand there are always going to be animals out there in need of a home and a family. There are dogs and cats in Barrow County that need that now. I’d encourage any of you who are thinking about adopting to do so and love them like any other member of the family.
I think it will be a long while before we own a pet again. My wife’s heart especially has been shattered enough that she doesn’t want to go through it again. Maybe in time.
For now, we remember our sweet Maggie, who hopefully is somewhere peaceful, running free of pain and chasing after tennis balls. If there are windows in heaven, I know she’s sitting on top of a sofa staring outside of them.
I hope to see you again one day, Maggie, and hold you. Until then, I love you. Our bed is not nearly crowded enough.
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Scott Thompson is editor of the Barrow News-Journal. He can be reached at sthompson@barrownewsjournal.com.

The Barrow County Board of Education does not want a referendum on making those 65 or older exempt from school taxes.
Board members said the school district cannot afford to lose more revenue.
Superintendent Chris McMichael made a presentation Tuesday that concludes the effect of such an exemption “would be highly negative to the school system’s budget and programs, especially considering the fact that the system is already severely lagging in terms of funding when compared to the majority of the state.”
“Any further inroads to our already stretched budget are ill advised and will have a definite negative impact on our educational program,” McMichael said.
The superintendent said the county’s resolution was “a bit of a surprise.”
He said the school system “is still playing catch up” from the recession and needs all the funding it has – plus more.
McMichael was interrupted several times by board members making the point that Barrow County’s tax base is too dependent on lower-value houses. Board member Rolando Alvarez said “other places can tax at a much lower rate” and still have more money because of higher house values.
Vice chair Lynn Stevens said Barrow County’s fees for new home construction is backwards.
“Every county around us lowered the cost for larger houses,” she said. Houses of 2,000 square feet and more had a per square foot charge that is lower than Barrow’s, she said.
See the full story in the Jan. 10 edition of the Barrow News-Journal.

Barrow County’s schools should receive about $2 million more in local property taxes for the 2017-18 school year without any increase in the millage rate.
The additional money is generated because the county added to its tax digest by reappraising property for the 2017 tax digest, Jennifer Houston, Barrow County’s assistant superintendent for business services, said.
School officials told the board of education in November the district would have had about $3.4 million more in property taxes this school year if the sales ratio had been higher.
That effort was sparked because Barrow County’s “sales ratio” for 2016 was a low of 35.65 percent. Barrow County was the only county in the state that had a ratio of below 36 percent.
The state does the sales ratio study each year as part of the state’s funding formula. Houston said the county loses money when the ratio is low because the state assumes each county appraises property at the 40 percent level.
Barrow County’s chief tax appraiser Don Elrod said recently his office has “thrown our resources at” reappraising local property.
He said he expects the sales tax ratio to be 38.5 to 39 percent the next time the state does an audit.
He also said if the state ratio is below 38 percent, the county must assess utilities, such as Georgia Power or the EMCs, at the ratio rate rather than at 40 percent. The utilities will be appraised for 2017 at the 35.65 percent level, Elrod said.
The sales ratio is determined by the total number of property sales made in a county compared to the assessed value. The state “puts all those in a hopper and comes up with a finalized ratio,” Elrod said.
Houston said the fiscal year 2018 budget estimates $32.9 million in property taxes. That is about $2 million more than the fiscal year 2017 budget.
See the full story in the Jan. 10 edition of the Barrow News-Journal.

Winder City Council, at its meeting on Tuesday, approved the rezoning of one tract and the rezoning and annexation of another tract for phase 2 of the Gateway at University Parkway development.
The first tract, totaling just over 6 acres and located at the northeast intersection of Harry McCarty Road and Ga. 316, was approved for rezoning for commercial development and will include retail, restaurant and office space, according to an application submitted by Wayne Bartlett of Boulevard Shoppes, LLC.
The second tract, totaling 4.7 acres and located at the northeast intersection of Harry McCarty Road and Exchange Boulevard, was approved for annexation and commercial zoning.
Tuesday’s meeting was the first for new councilmen Chris Akins and Jimmy Terrell, who were sworn in by city attorney John Stell at the beginning of the meeting. Akins won the November election for the at-large seat over Todd Saxton to replace former councilman Bob Dixon. Terrell was elected in Ward 3, defeating incumbent Ridley Parrish. Morris, who won re-election without opposition in Ward 1, was also sworn in for another term.
See the full story in the Jan. 10 edition of the Barrow News-Journal.

The Barrow County Board of Education is expected to approve the purchase of new software for data management at its meeting next week.
Ken Greene, assistant superintendent for support services, told the board Tuesday the new software would handle information for attendance, discipline, grading, benchmark, enrollment, financial and human resources.
He said the system that is being used has been fine, but it has “outgrown its usefulness.”
The new SAP software will “pull everything we’re doing together,” he said.
The cost is expected to be $63,000 the first year and a bit more than $19,000 annually. He said the school district will save about $7,640 a year on maintenance costs.
The school system is using three kinds of software now that will be done by one system.
Joe Perno, assistant superintendent for system operations, said the donation of more than 90 acres of land that will be used to expand the district’s agriculture programs has been completed.
The land is along Ga. 53, near the Oconee-Barrow county line. Perno said teacher Ashley Best helped arrange the donation.
The Southeastern Trust for Parks and Land donated the property.
He also said a group, including Holsenbeck Elementary student Joshua Wright, met to talk about remodeling the school cafeteria. Wright won the Uncle Ben’s Cooking Contest and a $30,000 prize for remodeling the cafeteria.
Perno said the group is trying to get the project done before Wright leaves the school this spring. He is a fifth-grader.
For more on Tuesday's meeting, see the Jan. 10 edition of the Barrow News-Journal.

The Barrow County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday shot down a request to rezone property for residential development over concerns that doing so would not be in keeping with the county’s comprehensive plan.
Applicant Wayne Bartlett had sought to rezone 4 acres of a 10.38-acre tract at 935 Austin Road in Winder in order to build four higher-end single-family lots that would include homes that would be at least 1,800 square feet and be priced in the $400,000-$500,000 range.
The property is located near the Park 53 industrial park at Ga. 316 and Ga. 53 and is part of the “Cultural Center Gateway” under the county’s future land-use map.
The county planning department had recommended denial of the request while the planning commission recommended approval.
Bartlett, who lives across from the property and has sold off tracts nearby to future homeowners, and attorney John Stell said they believed the high-end residential development was the most suitable use for the property since a cultural arts center, once proposed nearby, never materialized. They were joined by two of the purchasers in voicing support for the request during a public hearing Tuesday.
“We do not believe this request conflicts with the comprehensive plan because we’re seeking low-density residential development,” Stell said. “The comprehensive plan discourages high-density residential development on the north side of 316. We are on the south side with a low-density development. We believe that’s why the planning board recommended approval.”
“We’re trying to make it a desirable area for people to live at a higher price point,” Bartlett added, saying the goal was to meet the demand of a median between higher-scale homes in developments like the Georgia Club and starter homes.
See the full story in the Jan. 10 edition of the Barrow News-Journal.